Aaron Funk, aka Venetian Snares, isn't for everybody. His compulsively skittering beats are an assault on both the ears and taste in general and one could easily label him a musical headache. However, his genius is undeniable; the guy knows his way around a computer. And now a violin as well. That's right, the electronic virtuoso has gone organic! I know what you're thinking "how fast can you play a violin without sawing it in half with the bow?". All kidding aside, the man really has learned to play electric violin as well as, *gasp*, trumpet. The story goes like this: Inspired by a trip to Hungary while on European tour, Aaron found himself on the Királyi Palota (Budapest's Royal Palace) imagining himself as a pigeon. This somewhat unlikely scenario was an epiphany for Funk, inspiring some of his most heartfelt work to date. The baroque strings and eastern European melodies were the starting point for these compositions, with Aaron's trademark jungle rhythms added only later as accents to increase the intensity. For this record Aaron learned the trumpet and electric violin which both feature prominently. It even contains a cover of Rezsö Seress' notorius "Hungarian Suicide Song" aka Gloomy Sunday in it's Hungarian title "Öngyilkos Vasárnap". As crazy as that sounds, and yes that's a whole heaping bowl of psycho right there, Funk has managed to craft an album that even a musical pacifist could appreciate. Don't get me wrong, all the trademark Funk mile-a-minute breakcore beats are intact but they're restrained and complimentary rather than self-indulgently showy. The urgent opening of "Hajnal" effortlessly jumps genres from classical to jazz to breakbeat without, uhhmm, skipping a beat. The haunting string arrangements of "Kétsarkú Mozgalom" are a perfect backdrop for Funk's bombastic over-the-top beats. I don't know how much of "Rossz Csillag Allat Született" is sampled (probably a lot), but at some point over the album I just stopped caring and let myself enjoy the effortless blend of two seemingly contradictory genres. This is the first Vsnares album I've actually listened the whole way through, which is probably the highest compliment I can give "Rossz Csillag Allat Született".9/10